I Hate Loving You
by mrs esposito
Summary: For the first time in three years - since the war against Gaea - Percy and Nico will leave camp after the end of the summer; however, each one will live in a different place. To prevent Nico to go to Italy, Percy calls him to live with him. But maybe that's asking too much of Nico's self-control. [Pernico]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: No character is mine, they belong to _Rick Riordan_, but the story _is_ mine.**

**Important note: **Unfortunately, English is not my native language and _I may make some mistakes_, so forgive me for that. I haven't read The Mark of Athena and The House of Hades, then I apologize for any error in the plot. I'll try not to give spoilers 3****

...

There were only three days left to the end of summer vacation, and, with it, the end of the stay of the demigods at Camp Half-Blood. Most of them would go home, start the school year, and - try to - spend a normal time in the city, to the extent that it was normal for the child of a god.

For the first time in three years, Nico and Percy would also leave the camp. Since the end of the war against Gaea, the two had begun to spend more time together, until eventually became great friends, which was a surprise to, basically, everyone. Especially Jason, who had no hope that the son of Hades could give in and take a chance on Percy.

But it happened, and now, di Angelo and Jackson were inseparable. Well, at least until the end of those three days.

"So, what you intend to do until next year?" Percy asked to Nico while he crouched to dodge a blow inflicted by the other.

Nico trimmed a Percy's side attack, tried to hit him in the head and took a step back, before leaning to the left and reply, "There are still a few months until my 18th birthday." Percy swung Riptide a horizontal slit, but Nico blocked before it reached his chest. He pushed the blade of the other brutally, but he quickly regained his composure and turned to the side, making Nico unbalance. "But my dad had a crisis of common sense and will buy me an apartment," he continued, turning in time to block another blow. "It was probably Persephone's idea."

Percy got rid of Nico's lock and lightly hit his left thigh, making him gasp and retreat.

"Must have been, " he said, raising his sword to reach Nico on the shoulder, but he was quick and dodged the ruse. "She couldn't stand you when you was a child, imagine now that you're a teenager full of hormones!"

Nico ignored her thigh burning a bit and moved up brutally to Percy, clashing their swords with enough force to throw sparks, and pushed it again, forcing the maximum his arms muscles. Percy was really good at that kind of fight, but always got distracted when Nico's Stygian iron sword was so close to his face. It was tenebrous and he'd never get used to it.

Still, he took a deep breath and concentrated on strike back, setting the look in Nico's eyes.

"Where is the apartment?" he asked, trying to distract Nico himself, but he was extremely engrossed in the fight. Not enough to not answer, of course.

"Venice."

"What?" Percy's grip on his sword hilt failed as his eyes widened. If Nico hadn't been quick, would have hewed the oldest soon as he decreased strength in his arms.

"Hey, look out!" Nico complained, then composed himself. He saw the look Percy threw at him and sighed, sheathing his sword. "Okay. We've had enough."

The son of Hades dusted the land of the clothes and turned to leave, but Percy still stood in place for a while. Then blinked and ran to him.

"Wait... Venice, Italy, you mean?" asked, keeping Riptide in the pocket like a pen. Nico looked at him, frowning, but grinned.

"Hey, you have some geographic knowledge," sneered, getting an eye roll from the older. "Yes, Percy, Venice, Italy. I'm Italian, remember?"

"I know. But... why?" Percy asked, grimacing. "Isn't much far from the camp?"

"You know that's no problem for me. I'll divide my time between a normal life in an apartment in Venice and regular visits to the Underworld, just to see how things are going, if dad needs help... And go back here in the summer. Oh, sure, I will also go to Camp Jupiter at least once a month to know about Hazel."

"Does she know that?"

"No," Nico replied, looking slightly uncomfortable with this. "I think I'll talk to her tomorrow." He looked at Percy and arched his eyebrows."And you?"

"And I what?"

It was Nico's turn to roll his eyes - but, as always, he ended up laughing at the slowness of his friend. He gave him a light punch on the arm and asked:

"What will you do until next year?"

"Ah... Mom and Paul will move into a house in Williamsburg," he said with a slight tone of discontent, and then smiled minimally, affected. "I'll live alone now."

Nico nodded, as if the idea wasn't bad either, but not needed to be celebrated. He was also about to live alone, many miles away from his only family - at least, the only one who didn't live under his feet. The only difference was that he was accustomed to being alone, unlike Percy, who had always been surrounded by his friends and mother. Living alone, for him, even now as an adult, was still a novelty.

As for Nico, even if he had gotten used to living with other people, he still liked to take time for himself, and the idea of returning to live in his native country was undeniable. He had already become a more sociable person, but that didn't mean he would be in camp forever. Matured a lot in recent years and began to start thinking about restarting his life, far from there. Not that it was easy, of course. He would still be attacked by monsters and would have to go to his father's kingdom regularly, but, apart from that, he would just be a normal guy. Just like Percy.

He looked at the boy beside him and wished that things in his life were easy as they were to him.


	2. Chapter 2

Were more than three hours since Percy had left the arena, bathed, dined and sat to the campfire, but he still couldn't take out Nico's words of his head. He couldn't believe that the son of Hades would really move to Italy. Not that he didn't liked the idea - he was even happy with the fact that the youngest would return to his native country to have a normal life, after all he had spent - but it felt wrong to let him go like that.

Percy had taken years to get Nico's friendship and now was running the risk of losing him again. He might have been, in a way, overprotective, or whatever it was, but he knew Nico long enough to know that he could change completely in just a few months, for better or worse. And he would never forgive himself if Nico become cold and lonely again just because he let him go without more.

So, while they accompanied the songs on the campfire that night, Percy had an idea. It seemed a bit... odd, considering he had a girlfriend and the only person with whom he had shared the apartment had been his mother, but he couldn't think of any other way to keep Nico around.

Once the campers got up and stood to walk to their respective cabins, Percy went to Nico, and was about to call him when another voice called out his name, "Percy!"

He turned and saw Annabeth running toward him. Not opened his arms to receive her in a hug, because it had ceased to be a habit for a long time. Now he just waved and gave a half-smile at the daughter of Athena, who did the same back. Percy liked it because it reminded him of the old days when they were just friends, but that feeling bothered him too, after all, they were dating.

"Hi, Annabeth, " he greeted, trying not to sound rushed even though he were holding to not rush out of there and go talk to Nico. He felt he needed to, at least, hear what his girlfriend had to say before proposing that kind of thing to his friend. Would have to talk to her too.

This was getting complicated.

"I need to talk to you," Annabeth said, flinching slightly at the serious tone she used. Percy knew instantly what was coming. "Shall we?"

"Oh, s-sure" He cleared his throat. "Sure."

From a reasonable distance away, Nico watched Annabeth nodded and she and Percy began to walk side by side towards the canoeing lake. He didn't know what the two had talked in that brief moment, but was sure he wouldn't like to know, anyway. They were a couple and they did whatever they wanted - _thanks, I've learned to deal with it_.

_Deal, deal, deal_. Everything Nico had done those three years was _deal_ \- with his situation, with the unstable relationship of Percy and Annabeth, with his unrequited and extremely secret passion, with every scene he was obliged to watch every day and which took away his sleep at night. He was _dealing_ with all this with incredibly self-control. Never had exploded, never spoke more than necessary, never evinced his feelings. Had kept everything under control, as he always did.

Still, spending so much time with Percy only made him fall in love more. It was something he couldn't and didn't wanted to avoid. He loved every moment he spent with the son of Poseidon, even seeing him with Annabeth did everything become meaningless - he was _hers_, after all.

Nico hated feeling that way, as if he depended on Percy to smile - he knew it was true, and hated it even more. Fortunately, he learned to deal with it too. Was simple: he just turned and walked away, as if he hadn't seen or heard anything. Used to work fine, until he got his bed in cabin 13 and kept seeing the same picture of the happy couple on every corner.

He snorted, doing exactly what he should do: turn around and walk away from there. He practically ran to the cabin of Hades and slammed the door, attracting some frightened looks from the campers which was still on the common area. Inside there was cold and dark, and, although Nico now spent a lot more time outdoors and sunlight, his cabin was still extremely comfortable.

Especially when he knew no cold could be greater than what he felt inside.


End file.
